XSW SP #6 – All in a Nut Shell (2001-01-02)

FPN is one of the oldest and most popular sites in the shell community
to date. rootrider is the current webmaster of the site and has added a lot
of content to it. Both personal and shell related.

In this interview I asked rootrider about his involvement with FPN and
about how he felt about the current run of events in the LiteStep web
interviews I recently conducted. His replies are very through and very well
thought out.

+——-<*>——-+

<XSWeekly> First off, let me thank you for taking the time for this
interview.

<rootrider> No problemo.

<XSWeekly> Now, you are the current web master for FPN (floach.pimpin.net).
How did you come by this job?

<rootrider> There was a long period where Floach hadn’t messed with the site
a whole lot…
<rootrider> So geekmaster took it over, but he got busy with other things,
so he posted a message to the LS Mailing List letting it be known
that he was looking for people to work on the site for him.
<rootrider> I was already spending so much time on my own just looking for
news on various sites, etc that I thought it wouldn’t take any
more time for me to post news on FPN.
<rootrider> I e-mailed geek about the offer, and he e-mailed me back saying
that he was hoping I would “apply” (to my surprise)….
<rootrider> I went from there. I got involved enough in the site that I asked
geek for the FPN ftp user/pass… that’s essentially how it all
happened.

<XSWeekly> Has being the webmaster of FPN been as easy as you originally
though?

<rootrider> Well… I’m not really sure.
<rootrider> I don’t think I expected *anything* from FPN, time-wise I mean,
I just started working on it.
<rootrider> It does take longer now to keep it up than it did originally,
just because so much more of the site is my doing now than it was
when I began working on the site in February or so.
<rootrider> I don’t know if it’s ever been easy, or hard. It’s just a matter
of doing what I want to do… I enjoy working on FPN, so I just
do it.

<XSWeekly> I have noticed that since you first took it over, you have
expanded it a lot. Mostly in the LiteStep sections. Why the big
push in that direction instead of another?

<rootrider> Litestep is the undisputed most popular shell.
<rootrider> It’s got the most news for me to post and I use it almost
exclusively.
<rootrider> My expansions work with LS more because that’s where the demand
is and that’s where most of my experience is.
<rootrider> I still try and push other shells as much as possible and I think
I’ve done an alright job in that area

<XSWeekly> What do you see now for the future of FPN?

<rootrider> I want to give FPN more non-LS content… more tutorials,
information, and how-to’s.
<rootrider> I’ve said from the beginning that I want to try and keep FPN a
site for the masses; semi-newbies who know very little, and
veterans who just want resources and news.
<rootrider> I can also see FPN (or at least a site of my own) moving off of
pimpin.net or to its own domain name though I’m not sure if I’d
like to lose the actual ‘FPN’ name (which is obviously based on
the url :)

<XSWeekly> If you had the opportunity to have your own domain, but couldn’t
keep FPN (or the name), would you move?

<rootrider> Maybe…
<rootrider> I don’t really know…
<rootrider> It would be extremely hard to find a host that’s been as gracious as
sammy of pimpin.net.

<XSWeekly> Being webmaster of one of the most prevalent sites in the shell
community, how do you fell about the recent developments in the
LiteStep web world?

<rootrider> UGH!
<rootrider> I’ve said a few times (on FPN, IRC, etc) that the Community is
very important to the future of Litestep.
<rootrider> The recent developments, with the problems between c0mrade and
ls.net vs. WareWolf and ls.com are amazingly stupid.
<rootrider> Just the fact that issues from over a YEAR ago are still causing
problems today is absurd.
<rootrider> I love this Community… even the problems we’ve had, mainly
because it often leads to advancements with LS and other cool
changes.
<rootrider> I myself have been reluctant to display my true views on FPN’s
front page, simply for the fact that I don’t want to bring the
name of FPN into this whole thing but I’ve got rather strong
views over this whole issue… especially with the truths (vs.
lies) and the whole legitimacy of Litestep.net being the
“official Litestep site”.

<XSWeekly> Ok, lets break it down some then. What issues from “Over a year
ago” are you referring to and why is it upsetting you?

<rootrider> Okay… a little history lesson here:
<rootrider> There was a huge issue surround the release of Litestep 0.24.5 by
the LS dev team which lead to Fahim (the current head-dev at the
time) leaving Litestep and starting work on DarkStep instead.
<rootrider> This problem basically surrounded the issue of who should release
the .24.5 distribution and when.
<rootrider> Litestep.com was the official Litestep site at the time, which,
in itself, was a bit of an issue. There were complaints of the
admins of ls.com being heavy-handed with the dev team and wanting
a bit of control over what happens.
<rootrider> When Fahim released the .24.5 distribution, there were immediate
reports that it was *not* the real distro and that it was posted
without Fahim’s permission.
<rootrider> As it turns out, the file posted on ls.com then *was* the real
distro but by that time, ls.com’s image was tarnished more than
it should have been.
<rootrider> Enough that the site kept its negative feeling in the Community.
<rootrider> Shortly afterwards, c0mrade was working on a site built
specifically just for themes (IIRC, the goal was to focus on
themes and do it well, without worrying about all the other LS
related stuff that takes a lot of work) that he called Litestep
Unlimited.
<rootrider> c0mrade then gained access to the Litestep.net domain which had
been inactive for a long time due to another Community issue a
long time before all of this occurred.
<rootrider> Almost immediately there was public tension between c0mrade and
the webmaster of LS.com.
<rootrider> Posts to the LS Mailing List, posts on Litestep.net and
Litestep.com… it got ugly.
<rootrider> I never knew the exact details behind all this until things began
to come to light just these last few weeks with c0mrade’s and
WareWolf’s interviews.
<rootrider> For some weird reason, this whole freaky issue is still a problem
today, I suppose just because it got *way* to personal.
<rootrider> It’s really too bad for the Community that they still have to
deal with this.
<rootrider> Just the fact that those same things are recurring today… the
same problems and personal feelings (anger) towards each other is
still an issue, is sick.

<XSWeekly> How about the current issues? Do any of them upset you?

<rootrider> Well, besides the fact that i think it’s silly that these problems
are still lingering around, I think there are problems with the
way c0mrade handles things, specifically related to Litestep.net.
He’s just fine to talk to, and he’s *extremely* knowledgable and
helpful when it comes to coding and getting things done.
<rootrider> There’s no doubt that c0mrade is the reason that Litestep.net is
so successful currently.
<rootrider> The *way* things are done sometimes are rather questionable to me,
and I think he brings things out in the open too that I wish he’d
actually try and solve with someone personally.
<rootrider> Nothing like this should be posted on a site or the mailing list.
<rootrider> I’m not going to mention everything, but a few of the problems
involve the issue of whether or not Litestep.net really should be
the *Official* LS site, and if it is, then how come there’s only
themes there and nothing about LS itself?
<rootrider> I don’t like the monopoly-like mentality that Litestep.net seems
to involve. That being the many subdomains that it has gained
that all used to be independent sites.
<rootrider> Helping sites with space and code is one thing… controlling it
is another.
<rootrider> I know of a few times where people have felt like c0mrade took
over where he shouldn’t have. That’s too bad.
<rootrider> Another thing, how come there aren’t any links to Litestep.com
on ls.net?
<rootrider> It *is* an LS site… a rather major one however you want to look
at it. Just the fact that lscommands is on there is a major
reason to point links to that domain.
<rootrider> I understand the community’s adverse feelings it might have for
the Litestep.com domain (because of the .24.5 problems), because
I had them as well until recently. I really believe that WareWolf
wants to try and change the site and improve it to be a well kept
up site with a lot of potential.
<rootrider> It’s not about competition… but about working together. Not
combining… just acknowledging the other.
<rootrider> Both of these sites fail to do these things.

<XSWeekly> c0mrade stated that he wanted to join with ls.com and create one
large LiteStep site and that would solve a lot of the problems.
How do you fell about this? Or, to be more exact, how DID you
feel as the deal fell through?

<rootrider> When I heard from c0mrade that ls.net and ls.com were to combine
(one way or the other), I was actually very disappointed. I didn’t
want to see more sites combine to become one major site. I was
actually alright with the idea… just disappointed.
<rootrider> Then, when I heard from WareWolf shortly after c0mrade’s
interview that he never actually wanted to totally combine the
sites, just resolve issues and try to work together, I was *very*
taken aback/surprised.
<rootrider> I was hoping that these sites would work together, at *least* for
the good of the Community… but this agreement that seems to
have fallen through (or never occurred?) between these two sites
can only do one of two things:
<rootrider> It can hurt the Community and pull us back to a point like we
were before .24.5, or we can pull together and try to improve the
state of the LS Community and its sites…
<rootrider> and…
<rootrider> I don’t think that combining the sites would solve many problems
at all… there are just too many outstanding issues between the
two webmasters at this point. I really don’t think that
combining more sites will help the Community much. We need to
encourage these sites to support the others, with words of
acknowledgment and agreement not hostility and anger.
<rootrider> Oh… and with the recent developments (ie. WareWolf’s interview
and c0mrade’s response): SOMEONE is lying. I don’t care who.
It’s just a simple fact… somewhere the truth is twisted. Grow
up people. Solve the problems… don’t instigate more.
<rootrider> Let’s continue with our lives.

<XSWeekly> You mentioned “official” site before. Now that these two major
litestep sites are no longer combining, which should be the
“official” site?

<rootrider> I seem to remember a few people saying back when Litestep.com was
called the Official Site that Litestep really shouldn’t have such
a thing.
<rootrider> Litestep is open-sourced. People are free to do whatever they
want with it.
<rootrider> There really isn’t such a thing as an Official Dev-Team, an
Official Site, an Official Mailing List, etc., etc.
<rootrider> We hand out these “official” titles in order to help us create
this sense of community that we have, which I actually think is
good.
<rootrider> Along with being “official” comes respect, for the dev team and
the ‘official’ site.
<rootrider> However, if we are to have an actual “Official Site”, then I
believe that it should have several attributes (which are rather
important IMHO).
<rootrider> Such attributes would include:
<rootrider> Having an up-front explanation of *what* Litestep is (for gosh
sakes… why in the *heck* doesn’t Litestep.net tell anyone what
Litestep *is*!!@?).
<rootrider> Containing how-to’s, tutorials, information, resources, etc. or
at least prominent links to them.
<rootrider> Contain up-to-date and impartial news related to the community
and Litestep itself.
<rootrider> Be a center of distribution for Litestep distributions and a few
outstanding themes (maybe).
<rootrider> I *don’t'* think that the Official LiteStep Site should have
thousands of themes and modules, with less news than almost any
other shell news site.
<rootrider> I also *don’t* think that the Official LiteStep site should
contain partial news, at least on the front/news page.
<rootrider> I wouldn’t have any problem with personal opinions and partial
news being in a sort of commentary/editorial section or whatever
(kinda like what I’ve been attempting to do with FPN).
<rootrider> In other words… I sincerely don’t believe that Litestep.net
should be the official site at all.
<rootrider> Simply hosting the dev team’s site doesn’t make you official. It
means you were kind enough to offer some space.
<rootrider> The dev team really doesn’t even have *control* over their site
(afaik – I’m *really* sorry if I’m incorrect here)… beyond
posting news and adding/removing dev team members from the list.
<rootrider> This isn’t necessarily a sin, just something I think should be
changed.
<rootrider> Anyway, I’d like to see Litestep.net stay *the* place to get LS
themes but have another site step up to become the center of
Litestep’s publicity.
<rootrider> I’m not quite sure if there is such a site yet, but, if anything,
the dev team could support a group of a few Community members to
go and put together and informative and helpful site that could
act as the official site.
<rootrider> The Official site shouldn’t be affiliated with a certain domain
name or person… just with an idea: That Litestep is cool and
others should be able to find out how to get it on their own
systems with ease.

<XSWeekly> Do you think LiteStep.com should step up and be the new “official
site”, another site totally, or no site at all if that option is
ever available?

<rootrider> As I think about it right now (kinda’ tongue-in-cheek here), I
can imagine all the LS specific sites coming together to put out
information that will help the Community. Yes, this is pretty
close to what c0mrade has been talking about doing. I’m still
not sure if this is what should be done. Just an idea.
<rootrider> Either way, I’m not even sure if Litestep.com should be the
official site, definitely not in its current situation. Hopefully
this will improve shortly with the recent help WareWolf’s been
able to garner.
<rootrider> I just want to see a good, non-partial, and informative Litestep
specific site put up somewhere that could fulfill those
requirements that I outlined for the last question.

<XSWeekly> Do you think there is anything that the “main” people in the
LiteStep community (jalist, you, etc..) could do at this point?

<rootrider> Definitely.
<rootrider> We can come together as we kind of already have. (jalist, tin_omen,
me, and a few others). Just keep a line of communication open.
<rootrider> As I said, we just need to work together. I’m not talking about
a combination of sites or anything, just a sort of kinship or
something between all of us.
<rootrider> We are looked up to, oddly enough, so it’s *really* important that
we stay friends and refrain from making enemies. That’s usually
how ripples in the Community begin.
<rootrider> We need to be the backbone of the Community. We are what the
public eye sees.
<rootrider> There’s a lot of influence that we have so it is important that
people who are in a respectable position are actually *able* to
be respected.
<rootrider> That’s where our sites come in.
<rootrider> It’s not really about me personally, or jalist, or anyone else.
It’s about what we say, and what we do. Our cohesiveness as a
community revolves around what these respectable people do and
say.

<XSWeekly> Tell me a little about you.

<rootrider> I’m a 20 year old guy who’s never had a date, and doesn’t really
expect one.
<rootrider> I’ve never really had a lot of friends (IRL that is)… just a
few close ones.
<rootrider> I’m actually an introvert unless I get to know people well enough.
that is also a Real Life ™ issue.
<rootrider> I’m in college now, hoping to be a Computer Science major although
I screwed up this first semester enough (yeah, I’m a 20 year old
freshman) that I might not be able to continue until next year.
<rootrider> We’ll see. I might end up just moving on with my top goal in
life, which is to create, run, own, and maintain my own computer
shop of sorts.
<rootrider> I *love* helping others with their computer problems, which is
probably why I hang out so often in #ls_help on IRC.
<rootrider> As you can probably guess, I spend a nice amount of my time on
the computer, doing one thing or the other. Besides FPN and all
LS/shell related stuff, I’m also in a Counter-Strike clan
([WSU] – http://wsu.twu.net/).
<rootrider> Besides computers/internet and school, I try and spend as much
time as possible, especially during Summer, mountain biking.
<rootrider> Mountain biking, as it turns out, seems to be a rather popular
thing for us geeks to do.
<rootrider> KuhnDog, NeXTer, wingnut, and I’m sure more.
<rootrider> It’s pretty cool.
<rootrider> I’ve lived my whole life here in Washington state (USA).
Actually, my whole life has revolved around about one block of
space in Tacoma, which is about 30 miles south of Seattle.
<rootrider> I’ve never been on airplane, though it’s my dream to be in the
air eventually. Until a couple years ago, I’d never been south
of Northern Oregon, north of the WA/BC border, or east of Moses
Lake (central Washington).
<rootrider> I lived a limited life.

<XSWeekly> Do you use IRC and/or FPN to allow yourself to be more outgoing,
less introverted?

<rootrider> I’m more outgoing online.
<rootrider> I just have a hard time opening myself up in person.
<rootrider> What you see of me online is very close to who I actually am.
<rootrider> If you knew me in person you’d hardly know me unless you were
one of a lucky few people.

<XSWeekly> Do you find yourself allowing what goes on in the community
overlapping into your RL?

<rootrider> A bit.
<rootrider> Until just a month or two ago, I hadn’t ever even gotten angry
online.
<rootrider> The Internet is kind of like a dream world for me. To tell you
the truth, it’s been a place for me to escape at times when my
real life is screwed up. That probably sounds horribly geeky
but, I *am* a geek.
<rootrider> Computers act as an escape route for me sometimes.

<XSWeekly> Is there anything that I haven’t asked that you would like to add?

<rootrider> One major thing:
<rootrider> I *seriously* hope that our community can come together as a
team to make Litestep better.
<rootrider> Stay active.
<rootrider> Don’t let just a couple people determine what happens. This is
an open-source project, therefore, you really do have a say. The
dev team is quite open to others, and is very friendly. They
aren’t some distant untouchable gods or anything.
<rootrider> The same goes for the webmasters, module authors, etc.
<rootrider> I’ve had people feel awkward talking to me on IRC just because I
run FPN.
<rootrider> *bleh*
<rootrider> I’m just a person… a real person… who got lucky with a chance
to run a cool site.
<rootrider> Instead of spending time thanking me or whatever, give us (the
webmasters and mod authors) suggestions and encouragement.
<rootrider> That’s what we need.
<rootrider> I’d also like to thank KuhnDog for the wonderful job that he’s
done with helping me on FPN, specifically with the graphics that
he’s created for the site and the ideas that he’s given me for
what to do. I really appreciate his help.
<rootrider> I’d also like to thank Mulvane as well for stepping up to take
the job as operator of lsdev@fpn.
<rootrider> He’s been doing a great job, and I’m glad to have added him as a
member of the FPN team.

<XSWeekly> Once again let me thank you for having this interview with me.

<rootrider> No problem.
<rootrider> Thanks for asking me the questions.

+——-<*>——-+

I think that rootrider has pretty much summed up what should be
said about the current issues involving LiteStep. He makes some very good
points on the label of being an Official site, and why the community is so
important. Read what was said here, then re-read it. Think about what was
said, and maybe even consider taking what he said to heart.

- demigod

………………………………

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XSW SP #6 – All in a Nut Shell (2001-01-02)

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